Hey everyone. If you or someone you know out there is good with photoshop and can illustrate let me know! I need to have some logos done that I can use for this blog and my podcast. At this point, I am looking for someone who is willing to work out a creative deal with me in terms of compensation for the logo work. I know what I want in terms of illustration, I just need someone to do it as I can’t even draw stick figures.

Hi everyone! Well I hope that you are enjoying your summer and that you’ve been doing a lot of great things! My summer has been very busy but I’ve managed to take a few weeks with my family to enjoy some quality summer time. I had an excellent time with my kids these past two weeks and it is really healthy to recharge during this wonderful time of year!

Isn’t summer wonderful? Here in the Midwest, it’s a time where you don’t have to worry about wearing 8000 layers of clothing, slipping on ice, shoveling snow, nor do you have to worry about anything freezing if left outside. Yea …yea…yea…you have to mow the grass and, in many regions in the U.S., you have to stay inside in the AC during the day, but ultimately when you think about it summer is the time when the earth is at it’s peak…heat, sun, fully-flowering plants and healthy, hearty green everywhere! It’s really peak functioning time for our earth.

As we experience summertime this year think about how the earth is at its peak…its pinnacle…everything is operating at maximum capacity and then think about how YOU are operating. Are you operating at maximum capacity this summer? Are you at your peak…at your pinnacle? Is your motivational mojo where it should be for peak operation? If it is then GREAT…WONDERFUL…CONGRATULATIONS…don’t stop doing what you are doing and keep that motivational mojo alive and kicking!

If you are not operating at peak this summertime, then ask yourself the following questions:

(1) Why aren’t I Operating at peak performance?

This question seems simple enough but for most of us we fail to ask it of ourselves. Ok…maybe we ask it of ourselves but then we just answer “I don’t know why” and leave it at that! The truth is that we don’t delve into our souls enough to find the real answer. It is too difficult. It is too much work for us to dig deep into ourselves to discover the reason why we aren’t operating at full capacity. If we are to truly discover why we aren’t at our peak…we have to PEEK into our inner psyche and be honest with ourselves about our situation and what is causing us to have low motivational mojo. This peeking has to be an honest assessment of where we are at that very moment in terms of emotional level, mental level, and physical level. Maybe you are stressed…bummed…hurt…scared…or whatever, any condition that keeps you from operating at maximum levels should be identified and assessed.

(2) What conditions exist that are causing me from being at peak performance?

This is a vital question in terms of your motivational mojo assessment. You’ve identified the levels at which you are operating and moods that you are in, now you must clearly identify the conditions that are causing those levels and moods. These could be environmental…such as you are fighting with a significant other and that is what is causing you to have low motivational mojo. Or it could be internal…such as you are worried that all the bills can’t be paid. Or it could be a combo of both. You MUST make every attempt to recognize the conditions causing your lack of peak motivational mojo – your lack of motivation and energy. Look at ALL angles of your life and if you can, try to look at your life through various lenses to get a better view of your situaton. Perhaps have someone else…a friend…a loved one…significant other try and assess the conditions that you are in. Sometimes we can’t see those conditions that are closest to us and another person’s perspective often helps.

(3) How can I minimize the conditions to maximize my mojo?

This is where the rubber meets the road on your peek into your peak! Once you have identified the why (Q1) and the what (Q2) then you must develop a strategy to deal with those conditions. You must figure out a way to wipe the conditions away, put them aside for later so that you can function in the now, or confront them head-on and deal with it! (See “Dealing With It” Podcast/Blog Posting) We’ve talked about many ways to DWI – “Deal with it” here in this blog and on my podcast so I won’t go back into all of that as you can read and listen to those techniques again…

What I will say is that you must develop an action plan to deal with your lack of peak mojo that is particular to YOU and to YOUR situation. Baby steps are ok if that’s what you need, but since you’ve identified why and what is causing your lack of motivational mojo, then you might as well be very very very specific about your plan on how to increase your mojo. Don’t forget to write down your plan. All the research shows that having a list of goals or steps to increasing your motivation is much more effective than just thinking it. Build check-points where you (or a confidant) can check your progress toward your action plan in an honest and balanced manner. Give yourself rewards for increasing your mojo’s peak performance…this will help you look forward to something good and be a win-win situation in that you will be increasing your motivation while motivating yourself to do even more!

In summary, the summer time is a wonderful time to re-evaluate whether or not you are operating at your maximum (or peak) performance. By examining this now and by taking steps to increase your motivation and performance during the summer, you will go into the Fall being the best you can be and your motivational mojo will be firing on all cylinders!